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Yelawolf's journey and evolution has certainly been fascinating if nothing else. Going from absolute bangers like 'Daddy's Lambo' and 'Pop The Trunk', which marked the start of his Interscope affiliation back in 2010, to signing to Shady Records in 2011, this Alabama spitter sticks out from the rest of hip-hop like a sore thumb. With rock and country influences always being a part of his sound, as well as blistering rapid-fire flows and confident deliveries, the partnership with Eminem is one that makes sense, and 'Love Story' is his second album released through the label, following 2011's 'Radioactive'.

The album starts off with 'Outer Space'; an energetic, guitar driven tune which culminates in a funky, oddly trippy refrain. Yela is certainly making a statement with this opener, as it's nothing like what I was expecting, although he's very far away from the kind of impact 'Trunk Muzik 0-60' had when I first heard that project. 'Change' and 'American You' continue this unprecedented shift in direction for Yelawolf, with the 35-year-old demonstrating his vocal abilities. Yelawolf can sing, and his tone suits the electronic country vibe, as is exemplified on 'Whiskey In A Bottle', although the lyrical content occasionally comes across slightly cliché and preachy, which is a shame as Yela is often at his best when he's being heartfelt and passionate. I can't help but blame the mainstream country vibe for contributing to this.

'Til It's Gone' is the first track on 'Love Story' to bridge the aggressive nature of Yela's rapping with a convincing, catchy hook that doesn't sound out of place. He spits about the pitfalls of, and his struggles with, fame over a subtle, upbeat Will Power instrumental with intent. 'Best Friend', featuring Shady Records head honcho Eminem, is the only track with a guest appearance. Yela and Em both have a history of honest, personal lyricism combined with amped-up deliveries and quick MCing, and this is what I was hoping for with this track. Instead, it's disjointed, with no rapping from the Alabama spitter; instead we get Yelawolf's spiritual crooning for two verses, before Marshall Mathers contributes a lengthy, aggressive verse, which although does occasionally slip into a more emotional theme, for the most part feels out of place, no matter how technically good it may be.

Having released just two albums, the British megastar has become just the second artist in history to reach the landmark figure.

The records just keep tumbling for Ed Sheeran! At the very start of the year he was named as the most streamed artist of 2014, and now he’s achieved another landmark.

Spotify have announced that he is the first British artist to reach two billion streams, and only the second to do so in the streaming service’s history behind Eminem. That’s only on the back of two studio albums, however, whereas the American rapper has released eight. The company also announced that his track ‘Thinking Out Loud’ is the most streamed song in the United States.

Ed Sheeran is the first British artist to reach 2 billion Spotify streams

There's half of a great satire here, as Seth Rogen, James Franco and Evan Goldberg combine that freewheeling mayhem from This Is the End with some more pointed political comedy. But in its second half, the script begins to repeat its less-funny jokes, wallowing in smutty gags and excessive violence. These things may please the chuckleheads in the audience, but they wear everyone else out. And they make us work to see the film's much more enjoyable brom-com plot and sharp social commentary.

The story is centred around swaggering TV personality Dave Skylark (Franco), whose chat show majors in shocking celebrity revelations like Eminem's homosexuality or Rob Lowe's baldness. Dave's producer Aaron (Rogen) is feeling like a second-class newsmaker when he discovers that North Korean despot Kim Jong-un (Randall Park) is a fan of Dave's show and is willing to be interviewed live on camera. Then before they can head off, two CIA operatives (Lizzy Caplan and Reese Alexander) convince Dave and Aaron to assassinate Kim with a deadly drug. And when they arrive in Pongyang their mission is complicated when Aaron falls for Kim's media director Sook (Diana Bang) and Dave falls for Kim himself.

Yes, the film has a fairly standard romantic-comedy structure, as Dave and Aaron's close friendship is strained to the breaking point by the arrival of another man. Virtually all of the dialogue is infused with gay innuendo, double entendres and full-on sex jokes. Some of this is genuinely hilarious, such as the first time Dave and Kim discover their mutual love of Katy Perry's Firework. Then that joke is brought back four or five times, so by the end it's not even mildly amusing. Pretty much every gag in the film is beaten to death, even the ones that weren't funny to begin with. Thankfully, the actors' energy never flags.

After the rap star paid a visit to a terminally ill 17-year-old's family home on Sunday evening (Jan 11th), he passed away the next day.

One day after Eminem granted a 17-year-old terminally ill Detroit-area fan's last wish with a surprise one-on-one home visit, the teenager passed away. Gage Garmo reportedly died in his family's Rochester Hills home on Monday (Jan 12th).

A terminally ill Eminem fan passed away one day after meeting the rap star

Garmo, who had been diagnosed with Osteosarcoma - rare form of bone cancer - was left in shock on Sunday evening when Eminem walked into his family's living room to hang out with him for the next hour or two.

After a 17-year-old Michigan native was told he had less than a week to live, the rap star paid a visit to his family home on Sunday evening (Jan 11th).

Eminem may have a reputation as being a ruthless, offensive and remorseless rap star, but he also is a very compassionate person, which he showed off recently when granting a terminally ill fan's last wish with a personal visit.

Eminem met with a terminally ill fan on Sunday

17-year-old Gage Garmo, who has been diagnosed with Osteosarcoma - rare form of bone cancer - was left in shock on Sunday evening (Jan 11th) when Eminem walked into his family's living room to hang out for the next hour, TMZ reports.

Nelly offered some sound advice to Iggy Azalea whilst being interviewed by the Australian press. Despite the attacks on Azalea from other members of the music industry, including Eminem and Azalea Banks, Nelly believes Azalea should not be discouraged as she's evidently influential enough to be discussed but that she should simply ignore their cruel comments.

Nelly has some good advice for Iggy Azalea and for pretty much anyone else who has been the focus of unpleasant insults and cruel pranks - ignore the haters but appreciate the fact you are influential enough to be discussed.

Eminem released a project as recently as last year, and 'The Marshall Mathers LP 2' seemed to win back some of the critics of his recent, more aggressive and emotional style. 'ShadyXV' is a 2 disc release, consisting of tracks from Shady Records' talented roster, as well as some of the label's greatest hits, and we even get the demo version of 'Lose Yourself'; a real treat for Em fans and makes for a very interesting listen when comparing it to one of the most successful and important rap songs of the past decade or so. We get new tracks from Slaughterhouse, Yelawolf, D12, Bad Meets Evil and Slim Shady himself; it really does seem that Em has a new found motivation to take Shady Records back to the very top of the rap scene, and 'ShadyXV' serves as evidence that the diverse and talented roster definitely have the potential to do so.

The Shady Records head honcho kicks the album off himself, with the unashamedly rock-infused, self-produced title track. Eminem's frantic and aggressive delivery has divided opinions, but he is undeniably tight on this cut, demonstrating complex rhyme schemes, resulting in a hard-hitting and impressive opener. Em seems to have a reignited enthusiasm for complexity, and we're getting many examples of just how well he can construct lyrics in his newer work. Eminem is also behind the board for the Bad Meets Evil addition to 'ShadyXV', 'Vegas'. Mathers and Royce Da 5'9" both deliver forceful verses, demonstrating their ferocious flows and delivery. The stuttering flow in Em's verse matches the overdriven instrumental, and the consistency of both lengthy verses is impressive. DJ Premier contributes a signature instrumental, with his instantly recognizable timeless boom bap production backing Slaughterhouse on 'Y'all Ready Know'. Joell Ortiz and Joe Budden stand out, but each of the four lyricists definitely step up to the plate. 'Fine Line' is a highlight of the album, with Eminem delivering a passionate and intricate performance, and it's a great touch to shout out The Outsidaz, name checking Young Zee and Pace Won on the third verse. 'Detroit Vs Everybody' has been doing the rounds online for a while now, with an incredible 16 minute long remix featuring some of Detroit's finest spitters also surfacing in the past few days, and the Statik Selektah produced cut closes the album in fantastic fashion.

It's not all good though. Eminem's appearances vary from the aggressive and technical cuts, such as 'Right For Me' and the compilations intro, to the more commercial and inspirational songs he's found huge chart success with recently. 'Guts Over Fear' finds its home here, and 'Die Alone' feels like a re-hash of the same subject matter Em is constantly tackling nowadays. You can't really blame him too much though; he's never going to sound the same as his wild and crazy early releases, and if anything he's showing tremendous growth as an artist, and the confusion evident is not a new concept in the Detroit MC's discography. D12 mark their return with 'Bane', going down the electronic route, and it's not as successful as I hoped when I saw their name on the track-list. It's an unashamedly aggressive track, but ends up being a little forgettable when compared to their older material; '40 Oz', 'Fight Music' and '6 In The Morning' are absolute classics. Hopefully the dark, trap infused sound of 'Bane' isn't the new direction they're going down.

New Billboard rules that take account of streaming and digital sales in place for the first time.

After a one week interruption, Taylor Swift’s new album 1989 returned to the top spot in the US Billboard 200. Having been dethroned by British band One Direction’s Four last week, the 24 year old’s fifth record, whose sales now stand at over 2.5 million, reclaimed its position at Number One.

Taylor Swift returns to Number 1 for a fourth week after a One Direction-interrupted break

This week’s chart is notable since it’s the first time that Billboard has incorporated on-demand streaming and digital sales data. It is the most significant overhaul of their methodology since 1991, when Nielsen’s ‘point of sale’ data (called SoundScan) was brought in.

The music streaming service has been running its end-of-year feature for a while now, but the 2014 edition is its most thorough incarnation yet. It displays the top genres you listened to over the course of the year, suggesting some top playlists for each of those, as well as your top five artists, albums and playlists.

For added geekiness, the service will also break down your listening habits by geographical origin, how much time you spent using Spotify overall and on what device, and even on which days of the week.

It’s kind of a given in showbiz that fading celebs will do pretty much anything to inspire shock, awe and the occasional dollar flying their way. Enter Eminem and his recent string of rather violent, offensively unfunny lyrics directed at his fellow musicians of the female variety. After Lana Del Rey, Aussie rapper Iggy Azalea was the latest to come under fire, with Shady’s latest leaked track, Vegas, featuring the following disturbing lyrics (trigger warning applies): Put that shit away Iggy/ You don't wanna blow that rape whistle on me.

I know he has an album to promote, but was that really necessary?

The lyrics come just days after Eminem threatened to punch Lana Del Rey in the face in his freestyle rap video SHADYXV – THE CXVPHER off his upcoming Shady XV compilation album.

Pop singer Iggy Azalea has called Eminem an "old man threatening young women for entertainment" after he asked her not to "blow that rape whistle" on his new song 'Vegas'. The singer, 24, called out Eminem on Twitter for the controversial lyrics, which feature on the rapper's upcoming compilation album Shady XV.

Iggy Azalea has responded angrily to Eminem's rape lyrics

"If I let you run alongside the Humvee. Unless you're Nicki [Minaj], grab you by the wrist, let's ski," Eminem raps.

Eminem has threatened to punch singer Lana Del Rey in the face twice, during a new freestyle rap video posted on Youtube. The video was released to promote the rapper’s new compilation, Shady XV, which celebrates the 15th anniversary of his ‘Shady Records’ label.

A host of musicians are set to star in the next Guinness Book of World Records.

What do Metallica, One Direction, Miley Cyrus and Eminem all have in common? Erm, not much, but they're all set to be immortalised in the new edition of The Guinness Book of World Records which comes out next week.

As reported by Billboard, the long-standing almanac of impressive achievements is adding the musicians for various reasons, Metallica's being they are the first band to play a gig on all seven continents. They completed this feat this year in fact, when they treated some unusual guests to a show in Antarcita. James Hetfield spoke about the gig in a statement: "Seven continents in one year with Antarctica being the gig of a lifetime, yes, 120 scientists and competition winners. Not to mention the 300 very curious penguins!"

Nicki Minaj was certainly unlucky with her wardrobe at the MTV VMAs on Sunday (24th August) but the majority of the other guests managed to keep their clothes on! See the pictures from both the red carpet and press room at the MTV Video Music Awards 2014.

The 2014 MTV Video Music Awards were held at The Forum in California last night (Sunday 24th August). The great and the good from music industry turned out en masse to receive awards and celebrate their achievements over the past year.

The ‘Monster’ duo are the latest celebrities to get soaked for a good cause.

Rihanna and Eminem have become the latest celebrities to take part in the ALS ice bucket challenge. The viral sensation, which sees participants get soaked in iced water, aims to draw awareness to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and encourage donations towards its research. The Monster duo decided to take their soaking on stage during the final night of their six date co-headlining tour.

At the show in Eminem’s hometown of Detroit, the rapper accepted the challenge laid down by Dr Dre in front of 45,000 fans. His ‘hype man’ Denaun "Mr" Porter was initially sent out to do the honours before Eminem’s touring parter Rihanna came onstage.

Two music superpowers, rapper Eminem and singer Rihanna, have kicked off their joint tour in California.

As far as musical collaborations go, Eminem and Rihanna have given us some of the best. Between 'Love the Way You Lie' (Parts 1 and 2), 'Numb' and 'The Monster', every time the pair team up it seems to work, and it's no surprise really, considering they're two acts at the top of their game. No surprises then that their six date joint tour is something just a bit special.

Rolling Stone had the scoop on the first night in Pasadena California, which saw the pair collaborate not only on their familiar tracks, but also duet on some others, such as a cover of B.o.B ft. Hayley Williams' 'Airplanes'. Rihanna also sang Dido's part in a rendition of Eminem classic 'Stan'.

But now he’s unveiled something of a latent talent for rapping during a guest spot on a talk radio show. Pratt was interviewed by DJ Whoo Kid on the show ‘Whoolywood Shuffle’ and when the discussion moved on to rap music, he professed his love for Eminem by discussing his appearances on Dr Dre’s The Chronic 2001.

The duo perform 'Stan' as well as their own collabs 'Love The Way You Lie' and 'The Monster'

US rap legend Eminem capped off a triumphant headline set on Friday at Lollapalooza 2014 by inviting Rihanna to join him on stage for three songs.

Eminem at Lollapalooza 2014 (Getty/Theo Wargo)

In addition to reprising her choruses on ‘Love The Way You Lie’ and ‘The Monster’, the Barbadian singer also provided Dido’s vocal parts for ‘Stan’, which drew enormous cheers from the packed-out crowd. It’s not the first time that Eminem has snagged another superstar to duet with him on the 2000 hit single – he performed it with Elton John at the 2001 Grammy Awards.

The nominations have been announced for the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards, and no one is surprised that Beyonce is a front runner with a staggering eight nominations for various videos from her fifth album, Beyoncé. Close behind with seven nods apiece are Eminem and newcomer Iggy Azalea. Beyonce has been nominated for an impression fifty VMAs in the past and has walked away with twelve, whilst Eminem also holds an impressive eleven "Moonman" trophies.

Beyonce's videos for tracks including 'Drunk In Love', 'Pretty Hurts' and 'Partition' are nominated

Her fifth album was released in a surprise move at the end of last year, with all tracks accompanied by music videos, so Beyonce will no doubt be thrilled that the risky move has paid off.

Eminem didn’t want to perform at Wembley Stadium, the 90,000-seater home of the English national football team. Instead, he wanted to be part of the Hyde Park British Summertime lark but was refused due to the content of his lyrics.

Eminem performs at the MTV Movie Awards 2014 (Getty/Christopher Polk)

And Wembley stadium didn’t want Eminem to attempt to fill it either, despite being used to the fruity vernacular of the Detroit rapper - his first gig in the capital since 2001 will forever be remembered for sound issues.

So Eminem is still a thing. Despite the rapper’s career deflating slightly after the 00s, he is still big. Big enough to fill Wembley Arena with screaming fans. In fact, Slim set sort of a record Friday, being the first rapper to ever perform at the massive London venue. Technically, he shared the honour with Dr. Dre, since the rapper/producer joined his former protégé for a couple of songs. Dre treated fans to a couple of vintage track, including Still Dre, Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang and Forgot About Dre.

At 41, Eminem is still going strong and powering through shows.

And he wasn’t the only one helping out Eminem at Wembley. The rapper also brought out Danny Brown and Odd Future to open for him. So overall, it sounds like fans got more than they bargained for with the gig. There was a clear theme to the show, the same one Slim’s been playing on for a couple of albums now: do not mess with Marshall Mathers. He opened with a triple hit of Bad Guy, Square Dance and 3AM.

There have been miming accusations levelled at Dolly Parton’s crowd-pleasing Glastonbury set, we look at the evidence.

It’s nothing new for a universally acclaimed artist to mime in front of huge crowds. Eminem mimed his way through his 2013 Reading Festival headline appearance and still received a mostly positive reaction from a boisterous crowd. But for most live music enthusiasts, an artist miming in a live setting is nothing short of a heinous crime, an unforgivable cardinal sin that betrays the entire point and of live performance and leaves the artist devoid of integrity. Perhaps that best explains the furore that greeted Dolly Parton’s Glastonbury set as many people asked the question- “was Dolly miming?”

'Mimegate' sparked a huge debate over whether the singer was actually singing during her set.

Eminem becomes the first artist to receive two Digital Single Diamond awards from the RIAA. Which songs do you think landed him the honor?

After thirteen Grammy Awards, six number one albums, and a billion other accomplishments to his name, rapper Eminem is still going strong. This is because he’s the first artist ever to receive two Digital Single Diamond Awards from the RIAA. It’s impressive mostly because “Diamond” in music certification means that something sold ten million, and ten million is kind of a lot. Also because he’s apparently the first ever to do it. Even though Eminem’s had his fair share of popular singles in his day, he’s not the first that comes to mind when you think of huge songs, is he?

Eminem is the first artist to earn two Digital Diamond Single awards

So, which were the ones to nab him the title? It shouldn’t come as a surprise when ‘Love The Way You Lie’ featuring Rihanna was the first Diamond track, because that song was absolutely everywhere when it was first released back in 2010. Since then, it has gone on to sell over eleven million copies digitally. The lead single from that same album (Recovery) was the one to give Eminem the honor, as ‘Not Afraid’ just recently passed the ten million mark. When you think about the success he’s had with singles, you have to wonder what made ‘Not Afraid’ his big seller instead of his more radio-friendly tracks, but as catchy as they were, none of them comes close to what those two have sold.

While Taylor Swift relaxes from her busy schedule by making Drake-themed crafts for Ed Sheeran, her BFF just launched a new MTV docuseries. Nine Days and Nights of Ed Sheeran premiered last night on the music network and. It’s meant to give fans an inside look into the life of the redheaded songwriter – though how a documentary could reveal any more about Sheeran than his Instagram feed does, we’re not sure.

On his new album, Sheeran experiments with hip hop, a move he's very nervous about.

The singer-songwriter is stepping in front of MTV’s cameras to show and tell the story of his quick ascent to stardom, as well as promote his upcoming sophomore studio effort, x, out June 23.

Eminem has finally ended the 15 year feud with his mother in an emotional music video released on Mother's Day.

Eminem’s never made a secret of the fact that he’s had a troubled relationship with his mother, Debbie Mathers. He’s been very vocal in interviews and lyrics, accusing her of prescription drug addiction, paranoia and neglect. Rapper Eminem, real name Marshall Mathers, has dedicated some pretty scathing songs to Debbie in the past, including the particularly brutal ‘Cleaning Out My Closet.’ The song, which includes the lyrics, "Now I would never diss my own momma just to get recognition, Take a second to listen ‘fore you think this record is dissin’, But put yourself in my position; just try to envision, Witnessin’ your momma poppin’ prescription pills in the kitchen."

Eminem built his career on his angry rap lyrics, usually directed at his mother and ex

In the track Mathers also describes himself as a "victim of Munchausen’s Syndrome," a form of child abuse in which a parent regularly creates fabrications that their child is ill to gain attention for themselves.

Eminem celebrated Mothers Day in his own way this weekend, by releasing a brand new track. In it, the rapper, whose relationship with his mom has frequently been the subject of some of his earlier tracks, did a 180 and used the new video for Headlights to apologize to his mom. The video is filmed in first person, through the eyes of Debbie Mathers. It features a number of disturbing scenes, apparently recreations of Eminem’s childhood. You'll see security guards refuse to let her contact Eminem at his home. You'll see her turn to drugs and alcohol to cope. You'll see her look at old photos of Eminem a.k.a Marshall Mathers. But then, you'll see the 41-year-old rapper forgive her — with a hug and letter.

Long time fans of Eminem feel the rapper has sold out in recent years. But what's led them to believe this and is it true?

Fifteen years ago Eminem was associated with his shocking, subversive lyrics as well as his utter disdain for the pop world and everyone in it. His basic view on the industry can be summed up neatly by these lyrics from his 2000 track The Real Slim Shady, “You think I give a damn about a Grammy? Half of you critics can’t even stomach me, let alone stand me. “But Slim, what if you win, wouldn’t it be weird?” Why? So you guys could just lie to get me here? So you can, sit me here next to Britney Spears?”

Fans of the old Eminem feel that he has sold out in recent years

Sadly, in more recent years Eminem seems to have sacrificed his single-minded agenda to stay true to his underground rapping roots. While Em’s early work was outrageous, intentionally offensive, satirical and down right hilarious, these days he opts to collaborate with artists that would have made his diss list a decade ago. In recent years Eminem has released tracks with Rihanna, Lil Wayne and Pink, riling up old fans who feel as though the rapper has sold out.

Eminem and Rihanna will perform their smash hit collaboration 'The Monster' live at the Mtv Movie Awards 2014 on Sunday night (April 13). It will be the first time the pair have performed the single, which spent four weeks atop the Hot 100 chart.

Eminem and Rihanna Will Perform 'The Monster' At The MTV Movie Awards

The superstar duo join a line-up that already includes Ellie Goulding and Zedd, who will combine for a medley of 'Beating Heart' and 'Find You'. Conan O'Brien will host this year's show from Los Angeles' Nokia Theater.

Eminem and Rihanna have signed on to perform at the MTV Movie Awards this year, MTV has just announced. They will step out on stage together to perform their chart-topping hit The Monster at Sunday’s event, before embarking on their summer tour together. This will be their first live performance of the Marshall Mathers LP 2 single. On its release, the album reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart.

Rihanna will join Eminem onstage for the first time this Sunday.

The duo join previously announced performers Twenty One Pilots with their new single Car Radio and Ellie Goulding and Zedd, who will join forces to perform Beating Heart and Find You. The full list of performers is yet to be revealed.

Lollapalooza has sold out of three-day general tickets. Got that? No more tickets. Which is a shame, considering that one hell of a line-up has just been announced including Eminem, Kings Of Leon and Outkast. More than 100 bands and artists will perform on eight stages at Grant Park - and there's still an opportunity to see some of your favorite bands.

One-day passes to the extravaganza are still available, though, of course, it means that you need to be pretty selective with who you're wanting to see perform. One-day passes are pretty reasonably priced at $100 - which is pretty damn good considering the amount of bands you're going to see.

Eminem, OutKast, Kings Of Leon and Skrillex are heading to Chicago for this year's Lollapalooza festival.

Eminem, Outkast, Kings Of Leon and Skrillex have been officially announced as the headliners for this year’s Lollapalooza festival. The festival will take place over the August 1-3 weekend at its home of Chicago’s Grant Park. This year’s line-up looks pretty impressive, with more dance acts being featured than ever before and a diverse collection of artists.

Eminem is headed to Grant Park for Lollapalooza

Overall, over 130 artists have now been confirmed with Arctic Monkeys playing just before Eninem, giving the British rockers their most prominent US festival slot to date. Lorde will play underneath with Above & Beyond, Interpol, Chvrches, AFI, The Kooks, Rudimental, Iggy Azalea, Bombay Bicycle Club and Warpaint all appearing on August 1st. The next day Calvin Harris supports Outkast with Nas, Chase & Status, Kate Nash and Foster the People also on the bill. The final day sees the Avett Brothers, Childish Gambino, Chance the Rapper, The 1975 and White Denim all appearing on the line up with Skrillex and Kings of Leon.

The upcoming film "Southpaw" has been difficult for director Antoine Fuqua to get off the ground and into production. Fuqua strugled with finding a production company that would join forces with him before Wienstein Co. came on board. However, just when things seemed as if they were finally coming together, Eminem backed out of playing the leading man.

Eminem turns down boxing role for upcoming "Southpaw" film.

Deadline has also reported that Fuqua has secured Jake Gyllenhaal as the leading man in the boxing movie. The film is reportedly Gyllenhaal's next movie and he will play a left-handed welterweight boxing champion. The character's personal life is a mess and in the midst of it hall Gyllenhaal's character will have to fight to become the top boxing contender for his weight.

50 Cent has announced that he's going to become an independent artist and will be leaving his longtime record labels Universal Music Group's Interscope Records, and Eminem's imprint, Shady/Aftermath, according to the AP. The 'Candy Shop' rapper and his G-Unit Records have signed a deal with Caroline, the independent label at Capitol Music Group and one of the many labels that is part of the Universal Music Group.

50 Cent Is Moving To An Independent Label.

The rapper burst on to the hip hop scene in 2003 with his six-time platinum debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin' but his succeeding albums have failed to match the level of success and 50, real name Curtis Jackson, expressed dissatisfaction with his label.

The two Take That bandmates went head-to-head in the charts this weekend, with Robbie holding out for the No. 1 spot

It was like 1997 all over again this weekend, as Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow battled it out for the Number One spot on the UK Album Chart. Much like the battles of the mid-to-late nineties, it was Robbie who came out on top again, making him the last artist to top the album chart in 2013.

Robbie's new big band album, Swing Both Ways, held on to the No. 1 spot for a second week, having emerged victorious from another closely fought contest from last week. It was One Direction who Robbie managed to beat to the No. 1 spot last week, with his latest album beating Midnight Memories to the top spot by just 200 copies. This time around it was a relatively more clear contest, with Swing Both Ways outselling Gary Barlow’s latest solo effort, Since I Saw You Last, by approximately 12,000 copies.

This lively and engaging documentary may be set out like an informercial, but it teaches us about the drug trade with a pungent sting in its tail. The emphasis is on how America's War on Drugs has only made things worse, criminalising the wrong people and missing the whole point of the drug issue. It's a strong statement, made with passion, intelligence and a refreshing lack of political correctness.

"If the American Dream broke its promise to you, we have an answer!" This is how the film opens, informing us that the American population is the biggest market for marijuana and cocaine on earth. So keeping them supplied is a job that can't help but earn you a fortune as you climb from being a corner supplier to a local dealer to a kingpin to a cartel boss, all while learning lessons from cops and federal agents. And even working with them. Sure, there are dangers, including violence and prison, but the money you can make is worth the risk.

Obviously, this is deeply sarcastic. Telling stories are recounted on-screen by a wide variety of interviewees including activists like Sarandon and Harrelson, former dealers (Jackson), ex-addicts (Mathers, aka Eminem), cops, lawyers, scholars and even a TV series creator (The Wire's Simon). All of them point out the dangers of drugs as well as the fact that people use them because they feel good.

Eminem's upcoming video features soldiers, a cage, a therapist and a look back on Marshall Mathers' best and worst moments - and that's just the promo.

Eminem has just released a teaser for his upcoming video with Rihanna, Monster, and it’s… well, it’s intense. Judging from the 56-second clip, this is going to be another introspective video by the rapper, where he takes a look back at his life and career with the help of RiRi as a sexy therapist.

"Eminem has joined forces with RiRi on what looks to be a very dark video.

The video opens with aMr Mathers watching a playback of his life in a darkened room to the sound of a metronome and a Newton’s cradle. It’s a therapist’s office presumably and Rihanna soon steps in as that the therapist – a rather elegant one at that, sporting vampy red lips and a sleek bob. As she observes Eminem (she even has a yellow notepad and everything), the TV flashes frames alluding to his family issues, battles with drug addiction (the rapper entered rehab in 2005), etc. etc.

'Britney Jean' debuted at No. 4 in the chart, while Brooks scored his ninth No. 1

Garth Brooks released his new box set, Blame It All on My Roots, to an eager fan-base last week, who have managed to see it rise from No. 3 in the Billboard 200 to the No. 1 spot this week. Britney Spears saw her new album debut to a rather lacklustre start on the other hand, as it only just managed to crack the top five, debuting at No. 4.

Brooks is back on top with his latest compilation

Brooks' second box set to reach the top of the charts - his first being 1998's The Limited Series - will have undoubtedly been helped by value Walmart were offering the six disc collection for. Initially being sold for $29.98 before a sale price of $24.96 was introduced this week, Blame It All on My Roots will likely be lining plenty of country fan's stockings come Christmas. The box set sold an additional 146,000 copies this week, enough to see it move two places to the top.

The 41-year-old rapper is back at the summit of the Billboard album chart.

As we enter the final month of 2013, Eminem dominates the album charts by quite a distance, beating out competition from Lady GaGa’s Artpop, which endured a dramatic fall to No. 8 with just 46,000 copies sold, to Slim Shady’s 120,000. That 82% decline was the biggest for a No. 1 debut this year.

Eminem has success in his signs once more

It marks a brilliant comeback for Eminem, whose last album Recovery was strong in sales but didn’t enamour the critics and was largely forgettable.

He’s sold over a million copies, is destined to stay in the Top 10 throughout the festival holiday, and now he has a new video for his controversial, multi-referential single Rap God, which you can watch below.

Lily Allen couldn't secure her place at the top of the UK Singles Chart this week, as her cover of Keane's 'Somewhere Only We Know' was pipped to the podium by a school kid from The Netherlands. Garrix managed to secure the top spot ahead of Allen with his dancefloor anthem 'Animals,' beating Allen's holiday number to the top of the chart.

Allen's cover, which serves as the soundtrack for the much-applauded John Lewis Christmas advert, was unable to earn the singer her first number one since returning to music a few weeks ago. Still, the success of the single and the advert have gone on to spark renewed interest in the Keane original, which has returned to the chart at No. 29.

Garrix could have had the honour of being the youngest artist to reach No. 1 this year were it not for the infectious 'Royals' by 16-year-old Lorde reaching the top spot three week ago. Regardless, reaching the No. 1 spot overseas must be a pretty extraordinary feeling, especially when you're just 17! Speaking to OfficialCharts.com, the Dutch wunderkind said, “I didn't expect this success at all! I made Animals as a club record and seeing it chart so high worldwide and especially a Number 1 in the UK was really beyond my expectations. I will definitely celebrate this with my parents, friends and at school!"

In a jam-packed week in showbiz news, Lady Gaga's 'ARTPOP' was finally released, Eminem's MMLP2 became one of the year's biggest debuts and two former rival boybands united.

'ARTPOP' Drops:Lady GaGa released her fourth studio album,ARTPOP, on the 11th November after a rollercoaster few months ensuring her new record would hit the charts running. However, middling reviews and an anti-climactic release after months of leaked songs, incentives to buy and mini monster melt-downs means Mother Monster's new work may have misfired. But the elusive Gaga showed that through it all she had a sense of humour when she parodied her infamous meat dress on SNL. See how here.

Miley Cyrus' MTV EMAs Joint: Pop star Miley Cyrus continued her whirlwind of controversy during this week's MTV Europe Music Awards, held in Amsterdam. Miley performed her Bangerz hits 'We Can't Stop' and 'Wrecking Ball' in her characteristically skimpy outfits. See photos here. But it was when she puffed on a very suspicious roll-up during her 'Best Video' acceptance that made the internet buzz. Find out more here.

Thirteen years is a long time in the music industry; it's a long time in general, but in music it is a long time indeed. Yet, that is just how long it's been since Eminem brought out the first 'Marshall Mathers LP' and after this lengthy wait, the Detroit rapper has brought out the 'sequel' to his much-celebrated sophomore release. His latest album isn't so much a reflection on these past thirteen years as it is a return to the Marshall Mathers of thirteen years ago and on 'MMLP2', Eminem revisits his personas of old: Slim Shady and the angry young white man who is still struggling with his relationships and his demons.

For long-time Eminem fans, ones who may have given up on him after 'Encore' or maybe held on until 'Relapse', 'MMLP2' offers hope of a classic Eminem album, but there is a necessary reluctance to accept it immediately as a return to glory. Whilst caution is advised, some of the cynics may actually be pleasantly surprised.

"Here's a sequel to the 'Marshall Mather LP' just to get people to buy", he remarks on album opener and 'Stan' sequel 'Bad Guy.' He's always been one of the sharpest rappers out there and here, said from the perspective of the grieving brother of the 'Stan' protagonist, Em lets us know that he's well aware of the fact that most people are expecting 'Recovery 2', rather than a 'Marshall Mathers LP' sequel. 'Bad Guy' is our first real surprise then, with Em's storytelling back at its peak, drifting menacingly over the S1/M-Phazes beat. Towards the end of the album, on 'Headlights', his storytelling is again on top form as he reminisces through a troubled forty-plus years as his mother's son. Sure, it's another track aimed at his mother, but Em's lyrics are heartfelt and the song genuinely feels like an attempt at reconciliation. Nate Ruess of fun. fame sometimes distracts away from the delicacy if the song, but his sung parts are a needed break from the wholehearted openness of Em's lyrics.